ANTHROPOMETRY AS A PREDICTOR OF BENCH PRESS PERFORMANCE DONE AT DIFFERENT LOADS.

MedLine Citation:

PMID:
22027858
Owner:
NLM
Status:
Publisher

Abstract/OtherAbstract:

Our study purpose examined the ability of anthropometric variables (body mass, total arm length, bi-acromial width) to predict bench press performance at both maximal and submaximal loads. Our methods required 36 men to visit our laboratory and submit to anthropometric measurements, followed by lifting as much weight as possible in good form one time (1RM) in the exercise. They made three more visits in which they performed four sets of bench presses to volitional failure at one of three (40, 55, or 75% 1RM) submaximal loads. An accelerometer (Myotest Inc., Royal Oak MI) measured peak force, velocity and power after each submaximal load set. With stepwise multivariate regression, our three anthropometric variables attempted to explain significant amounts of variance for 13 bench press performance indices. For criterion measures that reached significance, separate Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients further assessed if the strength of association each anthropometric variable had with the criterion was also significant. Our analyses showed anthropometry explained significant amounts (p ≤ 0.05) of variance for eight criterion measures. It was concluded body mass had strong univariate correlations with 1RM and force-related measures, total arm length was moderately associated with 1RM and criterion variables at the lightest load, while bi-acromial width had an inverse relationship with the peak number of repetitions performed per set at the two lighter loads. Practical applications suggest results may help coaches and practitioners identify anthropometric features that may best predict various measures of bench press prowess in athletes.